The Opposite of Everyone

January 11, 2016
The voice is hard-boiled and the plot engrossing in Jackson's (Someone Else's Love Story) new novel, a realistic, contemporary story with a mystery driving it. In a twist, the troubled detective protagonist is no screwed-up male with substance abuse issues and an inability to commit (although there is one in the story); rather, she is hard-nosed, mixed-race, divorce lawyer Paula Vauss, nicknamed Kali (as in the fearsome Hindu goddess) by her feckless but charming mother Kai. Paula has settled near Atlanta, where she tries to push away everyone she cares about, but this becomes impossible when her past and present converge. She hasn't seen her mother Kai in years; then, the monthly check she sends to her is returned with a cryptic message, and a half-brother, Julian, whom she didn't know she had, shows up. Although Paula is rough and reckless, Jackson makes her an easy character to root for by vividly depicting her inner struggle and past. This is an excellent read with a fresh take on the detective genre.

Starred review from December 15, 2015
A tough divorce lawyer with a troubled past is forced to revisit her childhood when she discovers her estranged mother is probably dead and may have left another child behind. Paula Vauss was born to a free-spirited teen mother who nicknamed her Kali, after the Hindu goddess of change and destruction. The two traveled across the South, Paula's mother taking up with men who'd shelter her and her young daughter for a time, then growing restless and taking to the road again--a lifestyle that worked much better for a young child than for a preteen beginning to exist outside her mother's influence. When an ill-fated move lands mother and daughter with a low-level drug dealer, Paula makes a phone call that will change their lives forever and drive a wedge through their close, loving relationship. Years later, still trying to atone for that devastating act and make sense of her subsequent reinvention into a hardscrabble fighter who survived foster care, law school, and her mother's scathing silence, Paula discovers she may have siblings, including a young child who may be lost in the system. Traveling back through her memories, Paula looks for guidance from her itinerant childhood and the stories her mother told her, an odd combination of Hindu mysticism and Southern mythmaking: "I was born in Alabama. My mother invoked Kali on the black and bloody soil of the American South, and she didn't get renewal, hope, or springtime. She got me." She'll also have to re-evaluate her sense of self, since suddenly, rather than burning bridges, she may have to forgive herself enough to let others in and create deep connections. Jackson delivers another quirky, Southern-based, character-driven novel that combines exquisite writing, vivid personalities, and imaginative storylines while subtly contemplating race, romance, family, and self. A searing yet ultimately uplifting look at broken people who heal themselves and each other through forgiveness, love, and the power of stories.

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September 15, 2015
Atlanta divorce lawyer Paula Vauss was born Kali Jai in Alabama and spent her childhood traveling around with her mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who constantly reinvented their lives with a neat blend of Southern yarn spinning and Hindu mythology. Kai ended in prison and Paula in foster care, and the last check Paula sent her mother has been returned with a mysterious note. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
In her seventh novel, the popular Jackson puts the spotlight on a minor character from her previous novel, Someone Else's Love Story (2013). Paula Vauss is a tough Atlanta divorce attorney with a skeptical view of relationships. She grew up with her hippie mom, Kai, who was constantly on the move, had a string of boyfriends, and loved to tell stories woven through with Hindu mythology. But Paula hasn't seen her mom in 15 years, and their history includes a very painful passage when Kai was in prison and Paula in foster care. When Paula receives a cryptic note from Kai indicating that she is seriously ill, the hard-bitten lawyer crumbles, asking her ex-lover, Birdwire, an investigator who has had his heart broken by Paula, for help in locating Kai. Jackson excels at weaving a wholly absorbing story with vivid characters. Paula's fractious relationship with Birdwire is the highlight as the two sparring, onetime lovers renegotiate their relationship. A bit too heavy on the Hindu mythology, this novel, nonetheless, makes some affecting points about the importance of the stories we tell to each other and to ourselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)